Poor quality while playing an Audio CD

[gheimans]

When i play an audio CD-rom by auto-inserting, or by double-clicking a file on the CD-rom, the music sounds very poor. Like the curves are chopped. I doesn't matter if it's played by Windows Media Player or WinAmp.

But, when i insert the same CD-rom in the same machine, and play it by pressing the play-button on the frontpanel of the CD-rom player, it sounds great.

(W98se / Soundblaster 16 pnp involved.)

Who can tell me what's going on?

 

[Crustyoldbloke]

My son had exactly the same problem. We eventually found out that Winamp3 was causing the problem, and after uninstalling it and reinstalling Winamp2 all was well. Error! Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue
Phil
Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

 

[gheimans]

Tnx for the reaction Phil, but..... i had not installed WinAmp at the beginning. I only had Windows Media Player installed. Whe i noticed the problem, i installed WinAmp to see if this would solve the problem.
But, no way. The problem is still active. :-(

 

[Crustyoldbloke]

Just a quick thought flashed through my mind (doesn't often happen), if you right click on MY COMPUTER and choose the PERFORMANCE tab, then FILE SYSTEM and CDROM. Try adjusting the settings there for SUPPLEMENTAL CACHE SIZE and OPTIMIZE ACCESS PATTERN FOR.

What happens if you place a CD in the drive, allow it to start, then stop it and close the CD player application, then go to MY COMPUTER and open the CDRom drive? I assume that one of the media players opens, but what is the sound quality like? Error! Keyboard not attached. Press F1 to continue
Phil
Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.

 

[Accessdabbler]

You can also see if DMA is enabled for your HDD and CD drive. Go into Device Manager and select the HDD, select properties and turn on DMA (do the same for the CD drive).

 

[hotfusion]

You could perhaps look in 'multimedia' in control panel.
Go to playback's advanced properties, then to the performance tab and examine the settings. See that it says your soundcard rather than 'microsoft sound mapper' and set hardware Acceleration and Sample rate Conversion Quality to maximum/best.
Doesn't make much difference on my system, but all are individual and different, so give it a try. My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[gheimans]

Thank you all but sorry guys.
Tried all the suggestions so far but no results.
I'm running out of ideas.

What's the fysical difference between playing a CD by the cd-player or playing by a media-player program. I assume in the second option, some DLL's are involved?

 

[cdogg]

gheimans,
When you said:
But, when i insert the same CD-rom in the same machine, and play it by pressing the play-button on the frontpanel of the CD-rom player, it sounds great

Were you referring through the headphones attached to the front of the CDROM drive, or through the speakers connected to your sound card?

The audio travels a much longer path going to your speakers. Possibly, there is some sort of interference occurring along this path...


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[gheimans]

Hi,

i mean just to the speakers.
So, both situations are about playing the same CD, on the same PC, on the same speakers, connected to the same soundcard. The only difference is the way of playing.
Playing just by pressing the play button on the frontpanel of the CD-player, or playing by a program like Winamp or Mediaplayer.

Thanks in advance.

Ger

 

[cdogg]

OK, more questions for ya:

1) When you hit play on the CDROM drive, what app opens to play the music? CD Player? Something's got to open (unless this is a laptop).

2) Also, what kind of soundcard is that? I know you said Soundblaster 16 pnp, but is this a PCI card and what model?

Since the sound is going over the same path in both situations, then we know interference is not the problem. It must be a setting for the soundcard or a driver issue. When you hit play on the drive, Windows channels a basic feed to the sound card which gets handled in the simplest way. When you use an app like Winamp, it attempts to intialize the sound card's drivers and use them in a more complex state.

Hopefully that makes some sense. Consider upgrading the soundcard if it's old legacy hardware. At least try to uninstall/reinstall the drivers or change PCI slots.


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[legend2b4]

enable digital playback in WM

 

[crwpulsar]

Sounds like its "chopping the curves".
If it sound is bad when the audio is high it may be due to the voltage on the soundcard.If the voltage on the PCI bus providing the power is low then you will get "clipping" on the DAC on the soundcard when the value(amplitude) of the signal being decoded is high as it will have a value near the maximum(supply)voltage you can get on the Voltage rails on the Bus.
Commen factor with all devices using operational amplifiers within there circuits but never heard of it happening on a Pc.
REAL longshot but windows audio decoders could be ofsetting the value of the signal..does your soundcard have an option to Gain the signal by 20dB???

 

[sqrob]

gheimans

can you specify if this has been an ongoing problem or did it just start up after a new hardware/software install?

sqrob

 

[hotfusion]

The D.C. offset sounds a likely scenario, rather than simple symetrical clipping. Gheimans, do you know much about electronics/electrics? Are you able to use a multimeter to measure the actual D.C. voltage present at the soundcard's output during silence? If you aren't 100% sure, then leave it alone - but simmilar to cwrpulsar's suggestion, this could be it, I've known it to occur on small audio amplifiers using op-amps, and although they are easy to rectify, a PC soundcard is a bit more involved........
If you are able to measure this voltage and find it to be in excess of 500mV, ditch the card and get a new on.
Let us know. My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[gheimans]

i didn't notice this problem before.
It appeared after installing a new CD-rom player.

For CDDOGG: no, when i push the 'play button' on the front panel of the device, NO APPLICATION is started to play the music. The sound is send (as far as i know), straight from de CD-rom player to the soundcard.

For hotfusion: no, i'm not familiar with electronics.

 

[cdogg]

ghiemans,
Is this a laptop or a desktop PC? Very strange problem for a desktop if that's what you have...


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein